As the parent of a pre-teen, this is the time of year when I am reminded that my daughter is very tech savvy and I NEED to keep an eye on her and her online behaviours. It happens every year, she goes back to school and is suddenly downloading new apps, games and visiting new sites at the recommendation of her friends. They all seem to have made new discoveries over the summer and it’s a race to master them once they’re back in school hearing all about these new gems.

I really admire the aptitude these kids have for being in the know with the advances in technology but it’s our responsiblitiy as parents to keep our fingers on the pulse of what’s happening. This is a HUGE job, seriously I don’t want to sit for HOURS nightly checking the kids phones, researching and being the internet guard….thankfully there ARE many companies who help us parents to make it easier.

TELUS WISE: Ten Tips for Back-To-School Online Safety

As a Telus customer for over 18 years, I rely on them for great phone service AND their advance knowledge in all things online. Here are their ten tips for Back to School online safety:

Review the permissions before giving permission. Apps and social sites often ask for access to personal information that could put you at risk. Set rules around what info you and your kids will share and with whom.

Keep it private. It is vital to constantly check and adjust privacy settings within apps and social sites to keep up with ever-changing defaults. Looks for app settings that share information publicly and change it to close friends only.

Set-up a 24/7 watchdog for your name. Create a Google alert for yourself and each of your family members to track how your names are being used online and where you’re being mentioned. Find out more on our TELUS WISE site.

Less is more. Limit the amount of potentially sensitive information posted online to lower chances of theft or abuse – think twice before posting last names, age, school names, vacation location or other personal info.

Keep connections personal. A good rule of thumb is to only connect and share with people that you know in real life. “Friending” people online whom you’ve never met increases your risk of exploitation

Think before you click. Always read the full path of the URL link you are about to click to make sure it’s going to take you where you want to go.

Don’t be found. Turn off geo-tagging on smartphones and tablets to keep from being tracked. When this feature is enabled, your exact location can be exposed even if you’re just posting a photo. Ensure that apps that rely on location (e.g. Google Maps) are the only ones that have location enabled.

Lock it down. Set passwords that are at least six characters long. Use at least one symbol, number and uppercase letter; for extra security use different passwords for each website or account you use.

Don’t log in and leave it. Always be sure to log out of social accounts and apps when you aren’t using them. Disable or deactivate accounts and apps you no longer use

Keep your digital household clean. Set a recurring 3-month calendar appointment to check your online profiles, confirm privacy and permission settings on the social media sites you subscribe to and review any apps that you’ve downloaded.

These tips are fantastic, be sure to share them with your kids because knowledge is POWER!

For more tips to keep you and your family safe online, or to get set up with free online safety education, visit the TELUS.com/WISE or visit a local TELUS store.

WIN a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini from Telus

To celebrate the Back to School season, my friends at Telus have kindly provided one Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini for a giveaway!

This giveaway is open to residents of Canada, 18+ all entries are verified.

Entry is simple, just fill in the form below. All entries will be verified, this contest ends on October 16th, 2014. The winner will have 48 hours to respond.

I think for the first time ever, I would keep this for me. My phone keeps cutting out & hanging up on calls, my battery is draining really fast all the time even with things shut off. It would be great to have a phone I can actually rely on.

I am entering your giveaway.
It would be great to win a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini from Telus.
In response to your question of Who would this phone be for?
If i won i would give this phone to my nephew.
Thank you for having this giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This phone would be for Me! lol My kids always have the latest gadgets;this Momma has a very old Blackberry which has served me well; but is way past retirement age!!! (wish I was;lol) Great tips;btw-didn’t realise I could use Google to set up alerts:)

I would give this phone to my husband, he works in camp and his current phone is out dated and his battery drains really fast in it. I worry when he is in the field working that if there was an emergency his phone will be dead. He will not go get a new one bit if I won one he would have to use it haha

This phone would be for me! I am still using an old flip phone (it’s at least 8 years old, which is ancient in technology years!) that only has text and calling abilities, nothing else, and I would love to upgrade!!!

This phone would be for my step daughter (19) who will be having her first baby any day now! She needs a good reliable phone to keep in contact with us and sending us all those beautiful pictures of our first grandbaby!

It would be for me since I don’t have any kind of cell phone, and haven’t for about 6 years! Yikes! But, this would help with feeling able to leave the house without worrying about getting a phone call from the school.

My phone is really old. it dosent even have a sim card lol one of those old LG flip phones. This would be the perfect phone for me so I would keep it as my teenagers all have their own nice phones already

If I was lucky enough to win… I would give it to my daughter.
She’s been selling her things for weeks on kijiji & Facebook buy & sell groups. She’s been very responsible & saving every penny.
This would be a fantastic surprise. I already know she would value & appreciate a new phone. I wish I had the extra cash to buy her one. Thanks for the chance to win, Julie!!

A special little gent, my son Evan, turns 11 on Dec 20th. As it stands Mom/Dad have LG Android phones….and “All my friends have phones, Mom”….*yikes* was ready for this – time to loosen the apron strings….this is going to be hard…So having said that I would wrap this present up for my son Evan ….Another great giveaway/for the chances tyvm.

It would be for my wife as she doesn’t like the 1 she has, no options for blogging. I could use it for myself as well seeing as I don’t own a cell.Jason recently posted..My Angels My Friends (Dialysis Update)

It would totally be for me. All the kids and the hubby have phones I’ve heard such great things about the Galaxy s4 and have been with telus for ever! Thanks for the chance!Paula H recently posted..Now Live!! iPad Mini 16gb #Giveaway!!

This phone would totally be for me. My phone is dying. It randomly shuts off, gets stuck turning itself off and on and freezes all the time. I can’t afford a new one and my update isn’t available until the spring.

My mom! Since my cousin moved here from Brazil and needed a cellphone to get around my mom hasn’t had one. All she has is her Ipad and it’s super hard to get a hold of her when I have an Android phone. She would definitely benefit from this phone a lot!